


I Hate When I Love You

by dstridesandkarkles



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, F/M, Internal Conflict, Interspecies Relationships, Interspecies Romance, Interspecies Sex, Jealousy, Kismesis, Kismesis turned Matesprit, M/M, Moirails, Multi, Quadrant Vacillating, Sexual Tension, matesprits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-02-27
Updated: 2014-05-25
Packaged: 2018-01-12 04:54:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1182164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dstridesandkarkles/pseuds/dstridesandkarkles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Love is a confusing thing, especially when you add trolls into the mix. Dave Strider is about to learn this the hard way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Rage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter One: Mostly about introducing the story. (Duh.)

Why did it have to turn out this way? How did Dave get caught up in the middle of this? This heated, well not really heated, but the tension was easily felt, war between her and Karkat. Well that is a simple answer really. By being with her. Terezi Pyrope. The root of a lot of problems for him. And yet he couldn't seem to stay away. Regardless of the warnings from Karkat, regardless of the warnings from John. He found himself oddly enticed by the female troll. So much so that he had been trying to figure out how, as the knight of time, he could help her get her sight back. Little did Dave know, Terezi already had her sight back. Though, as of right now, she had her eyes hidden behind her Redglare shades, so no one besides her knew, yet.

The thought, though it excited him, sent shivers down his spine. He was a very superficial person at times. He worried about if she would be the same way if she could see again. Not that he should have been. Who wouldn't fall for his cool and handsome face. Sometimes he just sweated the small stuff way more than was healthy for him. He rolled his eyes, his head on Terezi's lap.

Karkat was sitting there, glaring at Dave and Terezi. Mumbling profanities under his breath about how she could even think a human could be her matesprit. Karkat believed Terezi to be his. Only his. The fact that a human could take that away was proposturous.

"Karkat, you should just stop moping and say something. It's obvious you're jealous." Dave sighed, not even looking over to the troll. His focus was actually on the book in his hands. Terezi was messing with his hair, in her oddly creepy way that seemed to have rubbed off on him. He just found it to be something he was used to at this point. In fact, whenever John had cringed at the behaviour, he merely laughed at his friend. To the trolls, he and John had, on multiple occasions, been called moirails. He still wasn't too sure what that meant.

Just then, John got up, shaking his head a bit. So much like the heir. His eyes fell on the pair before he moved to sit with Karkat.

"You shouldn't antagonise him, Dave."

Stunned by the words from his friend, Dave was actually speechless. He nearly dropped his book, staring at John like he had insulted his killer beats. John was standing up for Karkat after how he had tried so desperately to stop John and Vriska from getting close? Egbert still didn't make sense to Dave, but he figured it was probably one of those qualities of that weirdo that kept him interesting.

Terezi was stifling a laugh, in her weird way, she could see Dave's expression. Karkat smacked John's hand away when he tried to rest it on the trolls shoulder.

"I DON'T NEED YOUR HUMAN SYMPATHY, JOHN. I'M NOT JEALOUS, AND I WON'T LET DAVE GET TO ME. I HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO WORRY ABOUT THAN HIS STUPID FLING WITH TEREZI!" He growled out. Things like how they were still stuck on this asteroid after all their effort. They had done exactly like they had to. A new session for both groups was starting. Yet still they were stuck on this rock. Not that it was all bad. What little of the trolls that were left alive after Gamzee's psychotic break were still here. Gamzee too, but no one had seen him, nor did they really want to. Karkat definitely didn't and Gamz was his moirail. That was saying a lot, but that guy scared him shitless at this point.

And yet, sometimes he needed his moirail, and against his better judgment, he went looking for him. It was starting to seem like this was going to be one of those times. He was just worried about what would happen if he actually found Gamz this time. He was able to calm Gamzee down, would he be able to again? Of course he would, they were moirails. Come to think of it, he was starting to realize he actually was wanting to see Gamz again.

Putting his hands on the floor in front of him, Karkat pushed himself off the floor, scoffing when John tried to stop him. He couldn't be around the humans anymore. The three year ride was better when it was only Rose and Dave. Somehow John got here and it just got completely ridiculous. Well moreso than before. He was slightly curious about how things would have been if Jade was here too, though he was thankful she wasn't yet.

Completely ignoring John as he walked out of the room, he went to search for his moirail. He was feeling unusually chatty right now, and the only person he even remotely wanted to talk to was that homicidal clown. He couldn't even believe it himself sometimes. However, thanks to him, no one was actually trying to kill Gamzee anymore, now that they actually understood how strong their moirallegiance was. Karkat was the only one to have ever been able to calm Gamz when he was sober, which before now was almost never. And with good reason, obviously. No one really thought it was a good idea for Gamz to be constantly wasted, now they knew better. 

He pulled out one of his mobile messaging devices he had alchemized during his session. God, how long had it been since he used this thing? He always kept it charged in case he needed it, not that he thought he would have.

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC] --  
  
CG: HEY GAMZEE. WHERE ARE YOU, FUCKER?  
TC: honk!  
CG: WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT HONKING AT ME?  
CG: DON'T THINK I WON'T SHUSHPAP YOU AGAIN!  
TC: CHILL BROTHER! HONK! WHY THE UNEXPECTED CONTACT?  
CG: I NEED SOMEONE TO TALK TO. PREFERABLY NOT SOMEONE IRRITATING. LIKE PERHAPS MY MOIRAIL IF HE DOESN'T HAPPEN TO BE TOO BUSY WITH DEAD BODIES OR KILLING THE REST OF OUR FRIENDS!  
TC: i guess you dont hate me anymore?  
CG: I NEVER REALLY HATED YOU IN THE FIRST PLACE.  
CG: MORE I WAS FREAKED OUT BY YOU, YOU DID KIND OF LOSE IT GAMZEE.  
TC: FAIR ENOUGH MOTHERFUCKIN BROTHER.  
TC: meet me in our old hangout?  
TC: :o)  
CG: ALRIGHT. SEE YOU SOON I GUESS.  
  
\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC] -- 

Karkat groaned a little. He couldn't believe he was actually agreeing to meet with Gamzee. Considering how much the guy still creeped him out. This thought seemed to go through his mind a lot lately though. It sucked. Anytime he needed his moirail, he would just remember everything that Gamz had done. He slumped against the wall, seeing if he was actually going to be seeing Gamzee.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a storyteller, so sorry to those of you who just want straight up always in your face relationship stuff. I'm a fan of that shiz from time to time, but I personally have to tell a whole story or it seems pointless to me.
> 
> More chapters to come.
> 
>  **To be noted:** I ship everything in this fic with a passion, and will sink with these ships.


	2. Confusion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Two: Karkat is confused about his flushed feelings and goes to Gamzee for help.

When he had finally gotten up, he started heading in the direction of his old hangout. The place he used to meet with his moirail at before he went psycho crazy. Karkat couldn't believe that he was even considering this. He must have been desperate to talk to  _Gamzee_ about his romantic problems. His hands were pulling at his hair, he was so stupid. He knew he was jealous. But he wasn't jealous of Dave... no. He was Jealous of Terezi.

Karkat had been developing flushed feeling for Dave, and he had no idea why. He hadn't been around Dave much since the humans arrived. Sometimes he wondered if it had come about through the minor interactions he had after finally claiming to be okay with Dave and Terezi's relationship.

Stopping, leaned on the wall, he started banging his head on the wall. He had lectured Dave about quadrant vacillation and now he was potentially doing it. What was he going to do? This was completely and utterly ridiculous. How could he have been so careless? Oh look, seems like Karkat is being trolled by Gamz. Shit.

\-- terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] --  
  
TC: HONK!  
TC: where are you. brother?  
CG: I'M COMING. DON'T WORRY.  
  
\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC] -- 

What's with that guy? He's got the patience of a child sometimes. Okay, to be completely fair, he had the mindset of a child all the time anyway. Picking up the speed a bit, it wasn't long until he reached his destination. He was hesitant to step inside, drawing a deep breath as he closed his eyes, he let out a low growl. He was so frustrated with himself right now. Why did he even think that this was a good idea in the first place? Because he was pissed off and he needed calming down. That and he just needed to talk to someone who actually understood him.

Leaning his head back, he let his eyes close completely. Big mistake. Because no sooner did he get scared shitless out of his skin by Gamzee and his damned horn.

"GAMZEE! DON'T DO THAT!" His hand was over his heart as he glared at his moirail. Pushing himself off the wall, he sighed and moved closer to the door, shoving past Gamzee.

"Sorry brother. I didn't even know you were there." Gamzee said before honking his horn again. He then followed Karkat inside and sat down on the couch as he looked around. It had been some time since they come here though. He was still a little surprised that Karkat had messaged him first. It was rare anyone even bothered to talk to him since he sobered up. Karkat did. When he needed someone to talk to. Their moirallegiance was apparently strong enough to even withstand this.

Karkat looked down at his phone, he could see a whole bunch of messages from Dave. He cringed a bit, but he wasn't going to answer them.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] --  
  
TG: yo  
TG: can we talk?  
TG: i want to have a serious conversation...  
TG: i know shocking right?  
TG: i guess i want to apologize for being a douche  
TG: so I guess what im saying is when you get back...  
TG: we should talk and try to settle our differences???  
TG: regarding terezi and all  
TG: cool?  
TG: right... youre ignoring me  
TG: i can take a hint bro  
  
\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] -- 

Karkat sighed out, he was pretty sure he would never be able to talk to Dave seriously in any general vicinity of Terezi. This was going to be horrible. He could tell already. He didn't know what was worse. Talking to Gamzee for romantic advice or talking to Dave about anything remotely serious. Karkat had a frustrated look on his face as he stood in his normal corner. He wasn't sure when it became  _his_ corner, but Gamz never went near it. Much like a corner in their rooms at each of their hives. It was just something that seemed to happen with these two.

Gamzee just looked up, rolling his eyes at Karkat. "You said you wanted to talk brother, what about?" He wasn't much up for this bullshit tonight. The mood he was in had ensured that he wasn't the most patient. One of the side effects of sobering up, unfortunately.

Karkat looked over to Gamzee, having momentarily even forgot he was there. "Um... redrom shit. Same shit, different day I guess." He looked away. He couldn't believe this. He missed the days when they would actually hang out and neither of them cared about their romantic problems.

"Lay it on me, mother fucker." The highblood stated bluntly.

Karkat blinked a bit, shaking his head at his friend. He was unusually perceptive to this today. Of course they could always talk about this shit but he seemed almost too willing to listen today. "Are you feeling okay, Gamz?"

"Why wouldn't I feel okay?" The bizarre troll asked, almost looking shocked by the question. Almost.

Karkat just shrugged. That was an obvious answer, no need to state it. He's calmer when you don't say the obvious 'because you are sober, bro.' He just looked up at the ceiling as he thought for a moment. "Where do you want me to start?"

"At the beginning."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! :D Please feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think. I will take your comments into consideration to help develop the story more. :3


	3. Common Sense

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Three: Karkat starts to explain about his redrom problems. Possibly answering Dave too.

At the beginning? Easier said than done, Gamz. Karkat tried to think. He really hadn't even told anyone about how he had felt about Dave, especially not Dave or Terezi. They seemed so happy, he really didn't want to make himself into the hivewrecker in that situation. He definitely didn't want to make Terezi hate him more than she probably already did.

"Well I guess, the beginning would have to be shortly after the humans got he---" Karkat started but was almost immediately interrupted.

"Have you told Terezi about your regrets for abandoning her?" Gamzee asked without a second thought.

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT TEREZI! WILL YOU JUST LISTEN?" Karkat's cheeks were flushed as he screamed. Gamz knew how he hated being interrupted. Actually he was completely surprised that the highblood had actually had the gall to make assumptions that this was the same without hearing him out. Rubbing his temples, Karkat tried to calm himself.

Gamzee, on the other hand, was actually surprised that Karkat was having redrom problems other than Terezi. As far as Karkat had told him, his only redrom partners were him as his moirail and Terezi as his matesprit. Was he possibly deviating in one of the quadrants? It was most likely the flushed one since he was still calling Gamzee his moirail.

Karkat was running his fingers through his hair, narrowly missing bumping into his horns. He wasn't sure that he could go through with this talk, with Gamzee of all people. He slumped down the wall of his corner, trying to collect himself. He hadn't even noticed Gamz getting up to sit in front of him. It seemed a bit uncharacteristic for Gamz given the circumstances.

"I'll cut right to the chase then start from the beginning." He decided aloud while Gamzee merely nodded. He seemed more into the conversation now.

"I think I'm developing flushed feelings for Dave..." He just sat there, waiting for the judgement. It had been his idea to troll the humans and now he'd experienced flushed feelings for one of the males, and caliginous for the other. Something was different about this time though. These feelings weren't as fleeting as past flushed and caliginous feelings. Karkat was pretty sure that he was not going to be able to abandon these feelings like he abandoned the others. This was his endgame.

Gamzee merely looked at Karkat, trying to see if he was kidding or not. Alas, he was not able to tell. "What makes you think this, brother?" He leaned back as his hands gripped the front of his legs. He rocked slightly back and forth.

"I don't know, I just... I can't shake the feeling." Karkat put his head in his hands and let out a low groan. "Whenever I see him and Terezi together, I feel this uneasy feeling in my stomach, and this uncontrollable rage takes me over." He sighed out, his teeth gritting as he tried his best to explain it. "I know they probably think I'm jealous of Dave, but no it's Terezi I'm jealous of." He finally admitted for the first time. He hadn't even actually admitted it to himself before now.

"Because she has Dave and you don't? Mother fucker, have you even told him how you felt?" Gamzee was far too blunt for this. He should have talked to Kanaya or, he cringed at the thought, John. Then again, he probably needed this bluntness. That or he just wanted to subject himself to the unthinkable terror his moirail had become. He was opting for the former for the sake of keeping his sanity intact.

"Well... no. He seems so happy with Terezi..." Karkat started.

"And you don't want to risk making her hate you more." Gamzee finished all knowingly.

"Yeah..."

"You have to tell him, you know." Gamzee stated.

You know for a bard of rage, he seemed more like the seer class lately. Too bad that role was already filled by Terezi. Who, even considering the circumstances, might have said the same thing. Come to think of it, probably all his friends would have said the same thing. How lame was he? Probably the lamest knight out there.

"I know... I just don't know if I can..." Karkat was far too shy to actually talk about his feelings with anyone other than Gamzee.

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling turntechGodhead [TG] --  
  
CG: SO I GOT YOUR MESSAGES.  
CG: SORRY FOR NOT ANSWERING, I WAS BUSY.  
TG: lets say for the sake of irony i believe you  
CG: ANYWAY.  
CG: YOU'RE RIGHT.  
CG: WE DO NEED TO TALK.  
TG: alright lay it on me  
CG: IT NEEDS TO BE IN PERSON.  
CG: AWAY FROM TEREZI.  
TG: alright...  
  
\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] -- 

Karkat slowly rose, looking over to Gamzee as he let a small smile play across his lips. Some of his pointy teeth were showing as did so.

"Thanks Gamz. We should talk more often. Hopefully not about romantic drama though." There was a smirk at the end of that statement. Gamzee had been the only one besides Terezi to see him smile, or even smirk. Karkat was just one of those trolls that never seemed to be happy.

"You're going to tell him then?" Gamzee more guessed than asked.

Stopping at the door, he nodded. "Or try to at least."

When Karkat had left the room, Gamzee let out a long loud honk from his horn. He merely rolled his eyes and kept going. He was just trying to figure out what he was even going to say to Dave. He was also trying to picture some of the less upsetting reactions he would get from the teen.

Oh this way going to be way more trouble than it needed to be. He could tell already. Karkat even entertained the thought of just completely forgetting about it and heading back to his and Gamzee's hangout. Though he was pretty sure his moirail would just push him back out and make him talk to Dave.

Then came the thoughts of what was he going to do if Terezi talked Dave out of speaking with him. He would be the one looking stupid. He would be the one who wasted his time. He would be the heartbroken one. As if it wasn't bad enough that he had flushed feelings, then he wouldn't be allowed to share them either!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, there's been a lot of moirallegiance in chapters two and three, hopefully it gets back to some Dave and Terezi matesprit stuff before the Dave and Karkat matesprit pops in.


	4. Lust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Four: Dave and Terezi interact for a little bit, before Dave goes off to talk to Karkat.
> 
> Side Note: I found this for all my readers xD I can't stop listening to it.  
> [Click](http://youtu.be/jrhTB2Sij8c)

### ***MEANWHILE!***

Dave was wondering what had set Karkat off that he had even snapped at John. He thought for sure that the two were becoming better friends. John sighed a bit before he got up.

"I'm going to see what Rose is up to." He seemed more distraught than was normal for John. Maybe he was upset about having been blown off by both his bros apparently. Then again, John didn't really try to talk to Dave too much anymore. Dave assumed it had something to do with the fact that he was around Terezi a lot.

Dave was about to get up to see if John was okay, when he suddenly felt a pull at his arm. He looked in the direction of the pull, blinking a bit.

"Terezi..." Before he could continue speaking, he felt her lips against his. His mind blanked, his question completely forgotten. Dave couldn't help but to wrap his arms around Terezi, pulling her closer. The female troll was quickly in his lap, smiling against his lips.

"Are you sure it's a good idea to be starting something in the common area?" Dave asked, honestly not caring, but attempting to seem like he was considerate. If someone wanted to come in, they would. He wasn't totally against having an audience. Though it would have been nice to not be seen as a complete dick. He already came off like a dick in the first place. Mainly because he didn't give two shits what others thought of his actions, lately at least.

She rested her grey toned hands on Dave's shoulders. "I don't really care if it's a good idea." She gave a soft squeeze to his shoulders. "Maybe, I just want you?" She sneered a bit, moving to run her tongue along his neck, enjoying the shivering reaction it yielded. "Come on, Dave." Terezi said in the most coercive voice she could muster.

Another shiver was sent down Dave's spine, his head shaking a bit. "What happens if Karkat comes back?" He did kind of care about Karkat, he wanted to think that they could be bros. That was part of why he had messaged Karkat to see if they could talk. Even though it yielded no answer from him.

"He'll have to deal with it then. It's not our fault if we want to spend quality time with our matesprits." She grinned before biting his neck gently. She then slid her tongue teasingly over the bite mark.

 A sharp gasp left Dave, his eyes looking to the troll from under his shades. "I'm pretty sure we should move though." He smiled. "If anything, so we don't have to really be too considerate of others." He shifted his glasses enough for her to see him wink.

"Fine..." She said with a huff.

"Come on." He pulled her up and dragged her off to what had be deemed as his sleeping quarters. He didn't mind sleeping, though sometimes he had worried about if they passed through a dream bubble while he and Terezi were doing their thing. Luckily that hadn't really been much of a problem. Yet.

He smiled when they were finally actually alone. It wasn't often people came into his room. At least without knocking. Only Karkat did. And that was when he knew for a fact that Dave wasn't with Terezi.

As the door shut, he wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing his lips to hers. The feeling of her arms around his neck made him smile into the kiss. His hands slid slowly along her hips before wrapping around to grip her ass. He grinned when he felt her jump a bit, that never got old.

Slowly backing up to the bed, he sat down, pulling her into his lap, moving to whisper against her lips. "I love you, Terezi." He then kissed her deeper than he had for quite sometime, almost like he felt like this was going to be the last moment they shared together. Something in him was telling him that something bad would be happening pretty soon. So he wanted to make sure that he could make Terezi as happy as possible before shit hit the fan.

His hands moved up her sides as she pressed her body closer to his, his hands slipping under her shirt. He blinked a bit though, feeling himself fall back on the bed under Terezi's weight. Well, this was different. He was a bit curious as to what she planned on doing.

Terezi started to slink down his body, her smiling growing wider the further down she went. Dave's brow was arched as he watched her, propping himself up on his elbows so that he could get a better view.

"Are you worried about giving up control to a girl, cool guy?" She stuck her tongue out a bit, before moving to graze her hand against Dave's groin. She was soaking in the loving sound that was issued forth from her matesprit at the touch. She nipped playfully at the button of his jeans. Terezi wasn't the most patient when she actually wanted something.

"When it comes to you, a little." He teased, then again, to be completely honest, he hadn't given her control because he was worried about what she would do. He was attempting to keep from freaking out, just letting her do as she pleased.

Pleased with the answer she had received from her knight, she used her teeth to undo the button she had been nipping at. The sharp gasp from Dave had let her know that he was still a little worried about having her pointy fangs around his dick. Her eyes looked up at Dave from under her Redglare glasses, her tongue teasingly gliding over his length through his boxers.

He was pretty sure that there was something inhumane about the way that this girl treated him from time to time. Okay, the fact that she was not human, that trolls were actually aliens and not what humans made them out to be, notwithstanding. Every time they were intimate it was electrifying. He was definitely sure he was not supposed to be allowed to feel this way. He was a horrible person, who really only cared about himself when it came down to it. Or at least that is what he had tricked himself into thinking after he had basically been the reason for Rose going grimdark.

Okay, he wasn't the reason for that. But he blamed himself for it anyway.

He let out a low groan as he felt his boxers being pulled off and moments later, a soft, wet mass teasing his length. "T... Terezi..." He couldn't believe how amazing the feeling was. It wasn't like they hadn't had sex before, actually they had been on the meteor together for a year already. And they had basically been attached at the hip the whole time. But this was the first time that he actually let Terezi do something that she wanted.

His head fell back as he let out another groan slip past his lips before pursing them. Easing himself back on the bed, his eyes shut, doing his best to just enjoy the moment without his habitual taking over the situation.

Terezi seemed to be pleasantly surprised that she was actually getting to have control for once. Not that she minded having Dave on top of her, but it was a little redundant. She had openly stated quite a few times that she had wanted control. Only to be shot down almost immediately.

Moving to take Dave's length in her mouth, she was as careful as possible to not scratch his length with her fangs. She was positive if she were to ever have this chance again, it wouldn't be through sinking her teeth into him. Letting her eyes fall shut as she started to lick slowly along the part of his length in her mouth, she let out a low hum of contentment. Her eyes snapped open at the unexpected reaction it got from her matesprit.

Starting to bob her head slowly up and down his length, her hand reached up to start teasing at the orbs at the base. Each reaction that she managed to coax from Dave seemed to make her efforts more worthwhile.

"Mmm..." Dave started, though almost immediately biting down on his lip. He wasn't sure it was an overly good idea to be encouraging Terezi. There was never any telling what she could do. He learned that the hard way. This being one of the times that he learned it. She never seemed to stop finding ways to surprise him, and he was almost absolutely sure he didn't want to know how far that went. Mainly because that could have been bad for him at the end of the day.

As if to prove an unspoken point, Terezi moved down his length until her lips were flush against his base, her nose was on his stomach. She managed to hold her position there for a bit before Dave unintentionally bucked his hips up, almost immediately looking at her with an apologetic look.

Terezi looked unphased though, as she pulled herself from his length and crawled up his body, a smile playing across her lips. Moving to press her lips to his, she whispered teasingly. "Is Mister Cool Guy impatient today?" She laughed softly before kissing him.

Running his fingers through her hair as he kissed her, smiling, he chuckled. "Maybe a little." He managed between kisses.

Almost like that was the signal that she was waiting for, Terezi then moved to sit in Dave's lap. Her hands were on either side of his head as she grinned. "I'll have to do something about that won't I?" She inquired as she slid her hands down her sides, hooking her thumbs on the edges of her panties. Teasingly, she started to lower her undergarments as she rubbed against his length, enjoying each and every little moan and gasp that escaped his perfect lips.

Smirking as she let out a low moan when she felt his length brushing against her clit. Continuing to grind against him, Terezi let out a loud moan, her eyes falling shut as she slid his length inside her. Moving slowly up and down on him, the low groans leaving him as she rode him. 

Dave slowly lifted his hands up, wrapping them around her neck and pulling her in. It was obvious what he wanted from her, even through each heated moan they both let out. Their lips collided in a passionate kiss, his nails digging into her back, her hands gripping his shoulders. This definitely was nothing like any other time they made love.

Made love. That phrase was still weird, in Dave's mind. From what Karkat told him and John, the quadrants were based on hate and pity. This though, this was probably the furthest thing from pity, in Dave's mind.

Thrusting his hips up when she pulled back, he couldn't help the grin at the loud moan it resulted in.

"A... ah, Dave..." Terezi was practically slumped over him, barely able to keep herself up.

Without warning, he flips the tables. Rolling just enough to where he was on top, he pulled out of her, ignoring the whine that followed. He then moved to prop her on her hands and knees before pushing back inside her. Wrapping his hand around her front, he started to tease at her clit, as he started thrusting into her faster.

"Fuck!" She was practically screaming, her head almost immediately falling to the bed as she bit down. "So... so good. Don't stop..." It was muffled, but it was the most beautiful thing he'd heard all day.

As much as he didn't want to stop though, he could feel himself getting close to his climax. It was a shame, maybe he shouldn't have let T do her thing.

"I... I'm getting close, babe." He groaned, and it was easy to tell he wasn't all to happy about it.

"Dave, I want you to..." She was cut off by a loud moan, rudely interrupting her. "Finish inside me... please..." she pleaded as she started to cum on him.

Shit. She was begging. And she already hit her climax. That didn't help him hold out. Before he knew it, he came. There was no time for him to even think of pulling out.

When she fell forward, he fell next to her. Breathing hard and smiling, he blinked when he finally noticed. Her glasses fell off, and she hadn't bothered to put them back on. The last time this happened, her eyes were red. This time? They looked like all the other trolls' eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Four kind of goes back into what happened between Dave and Terezi while Karkat was off talking to Gamzee. Like maybe fifteen minutes after he messaged Karkat in chapter two.
> 
> Also I should probably stop writing this on my phone when I should be going to bed, but I wanted to get this chapter post...


	5. Confrontation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Five: Dave confronts Terezi about her secret; Karkat tells Dave about his flushed feelings.
> 
> Side Note: More Happy Homestuck stuff!  
> [Click!](http://youtu.be/Tmg7gBcg_W4)

Woah, backtrack broski.

What in the actual fuck is going on?

"T..." Dave was speechless. He didn't even know how to react. Terezi... she was lying to him about still being blind. Yeah, he was thankful that she wasn't as shallow as him, but this... this still hurt. Maybe even more than if she had been.

"Dave... I'm... I'm sorry." She started.

"You're sorry? For what? Lying? Letting me keep thinking you were blind? You knew all my reading lately was to try to find a way to help you!" He bolted upright. He felt sick to his stomach, he couldn't even look at her right now. He was so confused. He scooted to the end of the bed, and sighed.

He never wanted to fight with Terezi. Now he was, and it was because, well in all seriousness, he was broken. He thought they could tell each other anything, that's what this relationship was supposed to be built on. Yet she let him keep wasting his time by hiding the fact that her sight was back.

She sat up slowly, trying to rest her hand on his shoulder. When Dave flinched, her hand fell limp. What was she supposed to do? She had been ashamed. She let her lapse in judgement cause her to let Vriska's dancestor heal her eyes. And what, was she supposed to admit that Gamzee was her kismesis? Cause that would go over so well after she had made it a point that almost everyone wanted to kill him for what he had done.

"Dave... I... I couldn't say anything." There were tears in her eyes, her voice making it so he even knew it. "I was... I was just so ashamed. In a moment of weakness... when we were in one of the dream bubbles... I let Aranea heal my eyes." She looked down, scooting back away from Dave. "Gamzee was making fun of me being blind one of the times you were with John and Rose..." She rubbed her arm a bit.

Still not looking at her, he got up and frowned. "You should have told me... I wouldn't have cared. I thought we were able to trust each other with everything." He looked at her, his red eyes hidden behind his shades. He was thankful for that. He didn't want her to see his how much he was really hurting. That wouldn't have helped anything.

"We can, Dave!" No they couldn't. She knew that. "But... I was..." She stopped short, putting her head in her hands. She didn't even know what to do or say. Why didn't she make sure her glasses were on before he saw her.

"You were what?" He moved to kneel in front of her. His hand reaching up to rest on her cheek. He didn't like this feeling. Something was still wrong. He could tell. He just didn't know if he could manage to make her tell him everything bothering her.

"Dave..." She pulled away from him, tears continuing to roll down her cheeks.

And then Dave's glasses started going off. "Oh God dammit... can you hold on a moment?" He rolled his eyes as he opened the chat from Karkat.

"Yeah..." She said, pulling her knees to her chest.

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling turntechGodhead [TG] --  
  
CG: SO I GOT YOUR MESSAGES.  
CG: SORRY FOR NOT ANSWERING, I WAS BUSY.  
TG: lets say for the sake of irony i believe you  
CG: ANYWAY.  
CG: YOU'RE RIGHT.  
CG: WE DO NEED TO TALK.  
TG: alright lay it on me  
CG: IT NEEDS TO BE IN PERSON.  
CG: AWAY FROM TEREZI.  
TG: alright...  
  
\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] --

Honestly, he wasn't too against that notion at the moment. Karkat didn't need to know that. He turned to T though. "You were saying?"

"It's nothing D..." She frowned and kept her legs to her chest.

Getting up, he frowned and pulled on his pants. "Fine, I need to go..." Now he was hurting worse. He couldn't believe that she was seriously acting like she couldn't talk to him about what was bothering her.

As he started to head out she finally spoke up. "Gamzee is my kismesis, Dave."

He froze in his steps. His heart sank in his chest, his eyes closing as he tried to compose himself. Terezi had said she was going to try to not be in the same romantic dealing as the trolls were known. He wanted to believe her, but even he knew that was impossible. It was who she was. It still hurt though. "I see." With that he walked out to meet up with Karkat.

"Dave! Wait!" She practically chased after him and tried to grip onto his arm.

"Karkat wanted to talk to me. And I need to think. Just... I'll be back soon, okay?" He looked back as her, his voice was flat as he spoke to her.

"Oh... okay... see you soon..." Her hand slipped away as he started to head towards the location that had almost exclusively been used by him and Karkat the few and far between times they talked just them.

To his surprise, Karkat was already in the room when he got there. He blinked before walking over to the angry little troll.

"So what's up, Karkitty." He snickered, he had overheard that he was given that nickname from Nepeta. Ironically, he heard it from one of Nepeta's ghosts.

"I  _really_ wish you wouldn't call me that..." Karkat could feel himself falling into the pit that he seemed to have a lot of trouble climbing out of it.  "Please... I'd appreciate it, Strider."

He sighed out, trolls man. "Alright." He had already guessed why so he wasn't going to push it. "Seriously though man, sup?"

Karkat was kind of panicked. He hadn't actually thought about what he was going to say. So instead, he moved in, placing his hands on either side of Dave's face and kissing him.

He was caught off guard by Karkat's advance, yet to his surprise, this kiss wasn't filled with hate like he would have expected from Karkat. No, this seemed exactly like the kind of kisses he had exchanged with Terezi.

"I... I think I'm in human love with you, Dave." That was all that was spoken after Karkat finally broke from the kiss.

What did he just say? He was even specific. He was basically claiming that he wasn't interested in the quadrant kind of romance, he straight up... loved Dave? Dave was left standing there stunned for a few minutes before he finally spoke.

"Wh... what?"

"I am in  _human_ love with you, Dave."

"But what... what about Terezi? I always thought you believed her and you to be matesprits? That you were jealous that she thought I was her matesprit." Dave was blown away. What the actual fuck was with today?

"No! I was... I was jealous of her. I don't know how or when it happened but... wait were? Aren't you?" Karkat blinking, his head tilted in severe confusion.

"I... I don't know... I have a lot to think about in that area." Dave was looking down, rubbing his arm. Karkat couldn't believe his eyes, they seemed so happy before he left. What the hell happened?

"Wait wait wait. What the hell did I miss?" Karkat demanded. Yes, he wanted Dave. But he would be damned if he was forced to watch Dave be upset like this.

"Apparently she has been seeing Gamzee behind my back."

"And, that's troll romance for you."

"She promised to not get mixed up in that shit. She said she wanted to be with me and only me. I knew she wouldn't be able to go against who she was, but it hurts that she hid it from me. Just like she hid the fact that she isn't blind anymore." He crumpled to the floor. His hands were fists against the ground. Here he was, being kissed by Karkat, and all he can do is cry about Terezi. He was doing a solid job at being a bro.

"She's WHAT?" The anger in his voice was clear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I used a conversation from chapter three. HUSSIE DOES IT TOO SO DON'T JUDGE ME! Mine is just more obnoxious and force read than Hussie's.


	6. Deception

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Six: Karkat learns Terezi's secret; things heat up between Dave and Karkat.

"She's been able to see for quite awhile bro." Dave seemed a bit down at the fact. Wait, didn't he want to help her be able to see.

"How...?"

"Aranea. Apparently. Because Gamz made fun of her being blind." He sighed, he was taking this harder than Karkat would have ever thought.

He couldn't help himself as he moved to rest his hands on Dave's cheeks, making Dave look at him. "Strider, you will be fine, okay?" He smiled, it was probably the rarest thing in the world for anyone to see Karkat smiling. He didn't know what he was supposed to be doing, but he knew it was killing him to see Dave in a state of disarray like this.

What happened next was probably the most shocking thing to have happened to Karkat yet.  _Strider_ pulled him in, and  _kissed_ him as if he had been wanting do it for a while. He wondered if that was how he seemed when he kissed Dave. What was even more shocking was the fact that he kissed Dave back, pressing his chest against Strider.

When they pulled from each other, Dave's fingers were woven through Karkat's hair. "How long?" He whispered to Karkat, there was a light blush to his cheeks.

"Most of the time you were here..." He ducked his head as he waited for the response. He began to wonder if that was even a smart answer. What if it creeped Dave out.

Dave's fingers curled in the Karkat's hair, his forehead pressing against Karkat's. "So the whole time I thought you were wanting T..." He started, looking down. He clearly felt bad, now, about putting Karkat through all that. Something about pissing him off when it was him wanting Terezi, but wanting him? He couldn't help but feel guilty.

"I actually wanted you..." Karkat finished before looking away. "But I didn't want to be a hivewrecker when you seemed so happy. I thought that maybe... maybe Terezi was your matesprit, and it hurt... so I got angry, a lot." His heart sank as he said that out loud. He then tried to pull himself away from Dave, his eyes staying on the ground.

However, Dave pulled Karkat in closer. "I'm sorry, Karkat. If... if I had known... I wouldn't have rubbed it in like that." Dave ran his fingers through his hair.

"Terezi knew..."

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah. We are kind of transparent to each other apparently. She knew my feelings for you, I knew hers for Gamz. We think we are so subtle, but when we say anything to the other about it like it's some big secret, we're like 'Oh yeah, I knew.'" Karkat shrugged a bit, like it was no big deal.

"She  _knew_ and she  _let_ me rub it in like that?" Dave was fuming. He was an ass, but he hated people who were douchebags just for the fuck of it.

"Does it really surprise you with our history?" Karkat answered.

When Dave remained silent but looking completely pissed, Karkat panicked. What the fuck was he supposed to do? Shit. What was he thinking?

He did the first thing that came to his mind. He moved to pull Dave's glasses from his face. He felt Dave jump at the realisation of what was going on, his hands flying up. "Karkat... don't..." He heard Dave practically plead. He seemed so attached to these glasses and Karkat wanted to know why. He knew that John had given them to him, but that was all he knew.

"Please... just let me, Dave." He whispered as he continued to pull the glasses off. He felt Strider's grip on the glasses loosen and he gently and slowly pulled them away. Unfortunately, when they were off his face, Dave's eyes were closed.

"Fuck you, Dave. Seriously?"

"No." Dave let his eyes open, slowly and almost like he was scared to do it. If this was actually fear that Dave was showing, Karkat wasn't sure how to react. When his eyes were fully open, he saw the red orbs that Strider was always hiding.

"Your eyes..."

"I know, I'm a mutant..." He looked away as he frowned, moving to grab his shades from Karkat.

"They're beautiful though." Karkat smiled and handed him back the glasses, though his hand moved to rest on Dave's cheek. "Besides, we have more in common than you think. By all means, I'm a mutant among trolls, you know."

Dave tilted his head. He was overly confused. He thought everything was based on blood, how could he possibly be a mutant.

"I'm a mutant because my blood is red. Not red like Aradia's, hers is dark red. Mine is a bright red, almost candy apple. Don't tell anyone though, only Terezi knows and I still don't know how she found out."

There was a tremble in Karkat's voice that Dave could tell was almost like the deepest fear he'd ever heard in his life. He pulled the troll into him, and hugged him tightly, a small hushed tone leaving him. "It's okay, Karkles."

Karkat blinked, looking up at Dave in disbelief. "Th... thank you."

"I also... I don't think I can stay with Terezi..."

"No. Dave. Don't let me be why you stop being with her."

"It's not because of you. She has lied to me, used me, and made me a total asshole towards you. If... if I were to be completely honest... I've wanted you for a while, but I thought you hated me. I don't know how to deal with troll romance, and I know I can't do the whole kismesis thing." Dave looked off and he pulled away from Karkat and let out a deep sigh.

"Err... well, you don't have to worry about that with me... the only quadrants I had filled were my pale and caliginous. And the only one I can be caliginous with is my past and future selves..." He looked away, blushing and turning away from the human. He was completely embarrassed to have actually admitted that out loud.

Dave just laughed though. "I don't know. I think it would be easier on me, if at least you were open about it. I mean, I'm not overly comfortable with sharing, but cultural differences man." He shrugged and moved to sit on the floor.

"You know... you might break her..."

"Yeah..."

"And you are still thinking of ending it?"

"Yeah..." He sighed, why did he have to feel like such a shit about this? She lied to him, and used him to hurt Karkat. How was there anything to feel bad about hurting her. She hurt him more than he ever thought he would ever get hurt. She hurt him more than he was hurt when he saw his bro dead.


	7. Loved and Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Seven: Dave talks to Terezi about their relationship; Karkat and Dave have an emotional moment.
> 
> Sorry this took a little longer to post my loves.

Dave sighed a bit as he looked to Karkat. "Karkles... I don't know if I can do it though." He wasn't sure if he could actually hurt Terezi, regardless of how much pain he was in from her.

Karkat nodded. "Do you need me to go with you?" He offered, with a smile.

Dave couldn't help himself. Knowing that he was why Karkles was smiling right now made him feel proud. He was able to do something that was near impossible to do.

"I think I'll be okay. You can hang out outside my room while I talk to her... if she's still there." He sighed out. It would have been great if this could just be over with already. He was tired of the lies and drama. And if he were to be completely honest, he wanted to explore his feelings for Karkat.

Karkat nodded, moving to take Dave's hand. "Alright. I guess I'll wait outside your respiteblock while you talk to her." He sighed and let his eyes fall from Dave. He suddenly felt way too clingy, pulling his hand back. Yeah, now he knew that Dave felt flushed for him, but it was still embarrassing to fucking express himself this way.

Dave looked off a bit, trying to ignore the fact Karkat was distancing himself already. He kind of understood. He was with Terezi, at the moment at least, and Karkat didn't like showing affection anyway. He didn't mind if Karkles showed him all the affection he wanted in private. He was too cool to get bummed about the guy he liked depriving him of attention in public.

That was pathetic.

Dave didn't do pathetic. It wasn't him. He was cool and ironic. So, yeah. He didn't care about public displays anyway. He only did with Terezi for the sake of causing problems for the others on the meteor. Specifically Karkat. He shuddered at the reminder.

He really didn't need the reminder. God, how he hated himself.

He sighed out as he nodded to Karkat, motioning for the troll to follow him to his room. The trek there was pretty quiet. It was kind of unnerving to Dave, and to Karkat. He kept peeking over to the troll from under his glasses. Sighing a bit, he spoke softly.

"Are you sure that it is a good idea for you to be nearby when T leaves the room?"

"I don't know..."

"Then why stay?"

Karkat shrugged a bit. "Because this is going to be hard for you. I would like to try to be there, as hard as it may be for me." He looked up at the ceiling as they continued towards the human's respiteblock.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, why not?"

"I don't know. This is all still so weird for me." Sighing a bit, Dave stopped outside his room, his eyes looking over to Karkat. He would have looked saddened if his eyes could be seen. Though he held the perfect poker face with his glasses on.

"Hopefully you will get used to it..." Karkat shrugged a bit, leaning on the wall across the hall from his door. He looked off, trying to keep his eyes from looking over to the door as he heard it open.

Dave walked into the room, only to find a crying Terezi. His eyes widened as he closed the door, frowning as he spoke softly.

"Terezi, what is wrong?" He was worried. He hated this already. She was crying before he even got there.

She shook her head, biting her lip as she even contemplated saying anything. Terezi still hadn't put her glasses back on. She had long since put her clothing back on though. Her eyes slowly drifted towards the human. Sadness was clear the moment Dave's eyes met hers. A lump forming in his throat.

"I... I don't think we can stay together, Dave." Her eyes fell to the floor. Sighing, she pulled her legs to her chest, her eyes closing a bit.

He knew he was going to say the same thing, and yet he was completely taken back. "Why?"

"Because I betrayed your trust. I lied, and..." She opened her eyes, looking to him and then looked away. "I used you. I really did fall for you, but at first, I just wanted to hurt Karkat like he had hurt me."

"What do you mean?"

"Karkat loves you, and I don't know if it is your human love or our flushed quadrant... but I've been unfair to you only to spite him. I can't be unfair to you anymore, no matter how much I human love you."

"T..."

"Don't... I know he's out there waiting. I don't know if he is waiting for me, or you." She shook her head.

"Terezi, how can you possibly think something like that would bother me?" He tried to keep his voice even. Even though he knew this already, it hurt him worse hearing it straight from her. He hadn't been sure if he had believed Karkat, he was just sure that he couldn't handle the lies. They hurt to much for him to be able to look past them. Mainly because he knew some of the lies had lasted a long time.

"Because I know you have felt for him for a while, and haven't really liked antagonizing him like you have. You were doing it for me. Since you don't trust me, I don't expect you to want to stay with me anymore anyway. So, I guess it's better to lay this all on the table. I am a Seer, remember? I knew, no matter what, it was inevitable for the knight of time from your session and the knight of blood from mine to be together. I never really understood why I knew, until I saw the way you guys were together. I can't keep being an obstacle, or a spiteful bitch." She looked down.

 He looked down, why did she have to be so hard on herself. "Are you sure?"

She merely nodded before getting up and walking out.

Karkat tried to stop her, his eyes saddened as she pushed him away. He then turned to Dave's respiteblock and walked to the door.

Dave was just staring in confusion and disbelief. How was he the one hurting when he was going to be leaving her. He was completely confused.

"Why do I get the feeling, that didn't go as expected?"

"Because it didn't."

"What happened?"

"She... she left me before I could leave her." He blinked.

Wait what? Now Karkat was confused. Without even thinking, he had entered the block and closed the door. His voice was low as he spoke. "I'm confused..."

Dave had slumped on the floor. Did that really just happen? Karkat was quickly kneeled next to him as he remained completely speechless.

"She said she couldn't keep using me against you, she had wanted to hurt you like you hurt her. She never intended to actually fall in love with me, but she couldn't be an obstacle between us anymore."

"I'm sorry, Dave."

"I should have known better... she's a troll after all..."

Karkat was quiet at that statement. He was a troll too, he wished that Dave didn't think badly of him too.

"I'm a troll, too, you know..."

"Oh shit."

"Yeah..."

"I didn't mean it that way, Karkat." Dave smacked his forehead with his palm. How could he have said something like that out loud with Karkles right there?

"Alright." He nodded and rested a hand on Dave's shoulder.

He let his hands fall into his lap. "I guess, I'm just a bit surprised. Mainly at how I feel at her leaving me."

"You are hurt?"

"Yeah, and confused. I thought she would be the one upset, and while I think she is... I'm confused why I am. She admitted openly to using me, to making it so I knew she was trying to hurt you with me as her weapon."

"She has that affect." Karkat resigned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> By the way, the notes and the beginning are like a summary but also help me make sure that I actually progress in the story each chapter instead of talk about the same thing three or four chapters in a row. Leave a comment if you would prefer that I go back and pull out the chapter summaries.
> 
> Side note: I'm trying to use more troll terms now. :3


	8. Support

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Eight: Karkat tries to cheer up Dave; Kanaya and Terezi have a chat.

"Why though?" Dave growled. He was frustrated at how horrible he felt right now. He thought that he was going to be completely fine, and no, he was in pieces in front of Karkat.

Karkat merely shook his head. "I don't know." He moved to wrap his arms around the human, a small frown on his lips. This was weird for him. Expressing himself, comforting people. Really, he only ever comforted Terezi, and even that was rare.

Both of them blinked when Karkat's trollian application started to go off. Who the hell could have been trying to reach him?

"You should answer that." Dave stated.

Karkat nodded and opened his chat.

\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] --  
  
GA: I Need To Talk To You Karkat  
CG: WHAT ABOUT, KANAYA?  
GA: Terezi  
CG: THAT'S A CHANGE. FINALLY DONE TRYING TO WIN ROSE FROM JOHN?  
GA: No  
GA: But I Just Saw Her She Seemed To Be Upset  
CG: MAYBE BECAUSE SHE JUST BROKE DAVE'S HEART.  
CG: OR THE FACT THAT SHE IS MESSING AROUND WITH GAMZEE IN THE CALIGINOUS QUADRANT.  
CG: OR THE FACT THAT SHE IS NO LONGER BLIND!  
CG: TAKE YOUR FUCKING PICK, KANAYA.  
GA: She Is Not Blind Anymore?  
GA: So What Are You Doing Now That You Know She Broke Up With Dave?  
CG: I'M SITTING WITH DAVE AND TALKING. WHICH YOU ARE KIND OF INTERRUPTING.  
GA: You Finally Went For It Then  
CG: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?  
GA: It Was Obvious If You Did Not Admit Your Flushed Feelings That Someone Would Have To Auspistize Otherwise  
CG: YES. ARE YOU HAPPY? I TOOK GAMZEE'S ADVICE AND TOLD DAVE.  
GA: That Is Good  
GA: I Shall Allow You To Carry On Your Conversation I Will Take Care Of Terezi  
GA: You Should Talk To Her Soon Though Karkat  
CG: I WILL. SHE JUST SEEMED TO NOT WANT TO TALK TO ME RIGHT NOW.  
GA: I Will Talk To You Soon Then Karkat  
GA: Farewell  
  
\-- grimAuxiliatrix [GA] ceased trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] --

Karkat growled a bit when he closed his application. His hands flying for his hair as he pulled at it. "Fucking Kanaya!"

"That doesn't sound very good." Dave groaned, laying back on his bed and letting his eyes fall shut.

He just sighed and laid back as well, looking over to Dave. He was a bit upset that he had even let his attention get stolen away for a moment. Granted, Dave told him to answer, he still felt bad.

"What did she want?"

"To talk about Terezi."

Dave froze. It was never good when Kanaya got involved in relationships. Especially since she was so into Rose, who wasn't interested anymore.

Karkat shrugged before rolling onto his side. "She said it was good that I finally told you how I felt."

He blinked. "Oh?"

"Yeah."

Dave smiled and rolled over to face Karkat. "I'm glad she isn't about to involve herself."

"She would have probably tried to auspistize, which probably would have ruined my chances with you."

"Likely... I still don't get your blackrom shit."

"Yeah. In essence, we were seen as caliginous, or in a hatemance as you call it. Kanaya had stated that someone would have probably had to auspistize us, or mediate our hatemance."

"That doesn't make anymore sense to me."

"Sorry. It'd take a lot of time to understand, especially since you aren't receptive of blackrom feelings."

Dave's hand moved to take Karkat's. "I would try to understand... now that I have your 'human' love." He laughed a bit.

He smiled, his eyes looking over to Dave before he leaned in to press his lips to Dave's. His free hand moved to run through Dave's hair, his body scooting closer to Dave.

He couldn't help himself, pulling his lips from the troll and moving to rest his head on Karkles' chest.

Karkat sighed, letting his arms wrap around Dave, though he was slightly upset at the failed attempt. "Is there anything that you actually want to talk about, Dave?"

"Not really, I just want to lay here with you for a little bit... please." He sounded so pathetic, his face buried in the troll's chest.

"Alright." Karkat nodded and held onto the human.

* * *

 Kanaya moved to try to take a hold of Terezi's hand.

"What the crap, Kanaya?" Terezi said as she tried to pull away, unsuccessfully.

"What is wrong with you, Terezi?"

"Why do you care? It's not like you really gave a shit before."

"I have, I have just been otherwise preoccupied. Much like you were." Kanaya stated bluntly.

Terezi looked away, her Redglare glasses were back on at this point. Kanaya was beginning to look a bit frustrated at the way that Terezi was acting. She brought her hand up and moved to slap Terezi.

"Tell me what the hell is wrong or so help me." Kanaya growled out.

"Jegus Kanaya! What is your deal?"

"You. You are walking through these halls like you are some kind of undead creature. You are worse than me, an actual 'undead' creature." Kanaya had used air quotes around the word undead.

"I just broke my own heart, I should be allowed to be upset. I walked away from the matespritship I had with Dave all because I had confessed to him that I had fallen into a kismesissitude with Gamzee. Which is the worst possible thing to have happened since I want to kill him for what he did to our friends! And yet, he knows how to infuriate me enough to where we end up snogging like fucking human high schoolers. I hate it, and I hate him, and I hate how he makes me feel!" Terezi groaned out, trying to pull free from Kanaya's hold. "Now let go, Maryam."

Kanaya blinked, looking at Terezi. It had been a long time since any of her friends had referred to her by her surname.

"Why did you leave your matespritship if it was going to hurt you so bad?"

"Because it started out as me using him. And because I lost his trust today... so I thought I would give him up so that he could pursue Karkat. It was painfully obvious how he felt about Karkat." She looked down.

"How did you lose his trust?"

Terezi merely took off her glasses and looked at her, remaining quiet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally I was going to have John/Rose in this chapter, but then I ended up introducing Kanaya so I changed my mind. John/Rose will likely be in the next chapter.


	9. Meet Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Nine: Kanaya and Terezi continue to talk; Dave and Karkat are invited to hang out with John and Rose.
> 
> Note: Sollux decided to invade this chapter out of nowhere.

"You are not blind anymore, Terezi?" Kanaya questioned, though she had already been clued in.

She shrugged, her eyes closing a bit. "It appears so, huh?" Terezi looked off after opening her eyes again. She was pretty sure that she was going to lose all her friends. She usually made it a point to not lie to them, unless it was Vriska or Karkat.

"Why? And when?" Kanaya was a little confused. She was pretty sure that she had heard Terezi say that she was happy being blind.

"Gamzee... he made fun of me being blind, so in a moment of weakness is one of the dream bubbles... I let Aranea heal my sight." She looked down, ashamed of herself. She was beginning to tire of explaining herself. She just wanted this all done and over with.

"Does Karkat know?" She knew the answer, but she didn't know if Terezi knew that he knew.

"No. I haven't told him."

"You should talk to him."

"I can't. Not now."

"Why?" Kanaya was confused all of a sudden. Terezi seemed to always be able to go to Karkat.

She just remained silent, which proved to further irritate Kanaya.

"Terezi." Her voice was stern, like she was running out of patience, which to be honest, she was.

Her silence stayed a bit longer, though she knew that Kanaya wasn't one you wanted to piss off. Eridan was proof of that if anything.

Kanaya, on the other hand, had just kept her eyes on the teal blooded troll.

"Because... I gave up Dave for him. I don't think I can talk to him right now."

"You need to."

"I can't."

"I will make you if I have to."

Terezi went quiet once more. She knew better than to take Kanaya's words lightly. "Fine..." She looked away from the jade blooded girl, her eyes closing out of frustration.

Kanaya merely nodded, a small smile playing on her lips. She knew that Karkat wanted nothing more than to keep his friendship with Terezi. How tumultuous as it was, it was a constant for Karkat, something he seemed to think he was lacking since his last wriggling day. The poor guy. "Thank you, Terezi. I'm sure you both will feel better after you talk." She was hoping that this would cause them to talk sooner.

A low rumble left Terezi, signalling that she was not very appreciative of Kanaya's meddling. "You're a pain."

"And yet you always listen to me."

"I feel like it would benefit me less not to."

"You never know though."

Terezi rolled her eyes. "I doubt I ever will."

Kanaya shrugged and rested a hand on the other troll's shoulder.

* * *

\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began trolling twinArmageddons [TA] --  
  
CG: HEY, I WAS TOLD YOU NEEDED TO TALK TO ME.  
TA: yeah, kk. i thought y0u were with dave right now th0ugh.  
CG: HE'S ASLEEP, SO I CAN TALK.  
TA: in person?  
CG: NO.  
CG: HE IS KIND OF SLEEPING ON MY CHEST. HUMANS ARE WEIRD LIKE THAT, I GUESS.  
TA: if i'm n0t mistaken, you had fallen asleep 0n me before.  
CG: WOW SOLLUX. WAY TO MAKE THIS AWKWARD.  
TA: s0rry kk.  
TA: no, but really. i heard fr0m ka that tz won't talk t0 you. what's up with that?  
CG: FUCK IF I KNOW. I AM GOING TO ASSUME THAT IT IS BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T WANT TO SEE ME HAPPY SO SOON AFTER SHE LEFT DAVE.  
TA: that's weird, kk.  
CG: I KNOW. BUT THAT'S ALL I GOT RIGHT NOW.  
TA: s0 what are you g0ing to d0 about tz, kk?  
CG: I WAS THINKING OF GOING TO FIND HER AFTER DAVE WOKE UP, SINCE I'M KIND OF FUCKING PINNED DOWN HERE!  
CG: JEGUS WHY ARE YOU ALL SO INTERESTED IN MY ROMANTIC DEALINGS LATELY?  
TA: because it is the 0nly form 0f entertainment we have right now.  
CG: FUCK YOU.  
  
\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling twinArmageddons [TA] --

Dave's eyes opened some time later. He must have dozed off in Karkat's arms. When he had awoken, he noticed that Karkat was on his trollian app. He grunted a bit before moving to rub his eyes. His eyes snapped open when he realized that his glasses were no longer on his face. This confused him, but he wasn't really worried. They were in his room, so it wasn't really a problem.

Rolling a bit, he turned so that he could prop himself up a little to look at Karkat. "Who are you talking to?"

"Sollux. And I'm not talking to him anymore."

"What happened?"

"Nothing important. He was just asking why Kanaya told him Terezi isn't talking to me. Like I would know the answer to that." Karkat shrugged. Everyone acted like he had an actual conversation for there to be the reason they aren't talking. Talk about stupidity.

Dave was about to say something when his phone went off. God damn it. Who could it be.

Right as he was about to look, Karkat took his phone. Opening up pesterchum, he smirked as he started replying to Dave's chum.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --  
  
EB: dave.  
EB: hey come on, i have a totally awesome idea.  
EB: dave, you can NOT be asleep.  
EB: seriously. fine, i'll talk to you later.  
TG: WAIT JOHN.  
EB: karkat? why are you on dave's pesterchum?  
TG: WE ARE HANGING OUT AND I TOOK HIS PHONE.  
TG: NOT THE POINT. WHAT DO YOU WANT?  
EB: i don't think i want to know...  
TG: EGBERT! WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT?  
EB: rose and i wanted to invite dave to hang out because we haven't in a while.  
EB: but it's cool if you are talking to him. unless you want to come with?  
TG: YEAH, THAT SOUNDS LIKE IT WOULD ACTUALLY DO SOME GOOD FOR DAVE AND I.  
TG: WE'LL COME HANG OUT.  
EB: really? cool! rose and i will meet you guys in the common room.  
  
\-- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

Karkat smiled over to Dave and stuck his tongue out. "Time to get up."

"Why?" Dave was practically whining as he clung to his pillow.

"John invited us to hang out with him and Rose."

"And you accepted?"

"Should I have not?"

"What if he thinks we are a thing?"

"I thought we were?" Karkat's heart sank a bit, his eyes falling to the bed as he sat up.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted to be, or let Terezi calm down." God, he was stupid tonight. How was he ever going to make this work if he kept saying things without thinking.

Karkat looked at him and smiled slightly. "I kissed you, didn't I?"

Dave nodded and blinked as his phone was tossed at him.

"Rose is bugging you this time."

"You still don't like talking to her, huh?"

Karkat nodded.

Dave laughed before answering Rose.

\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --  
  
TT: It has come to my attention that you and Karkat are hanging out.  
TG: oh really  
TG: shit bro when did this happen?  
TT: You're very humorous Mister Strider. Are you and he a thing now? You only ever hang out with Terezi.  
TG: damn you deduced that mystery like steven hawking doing some fucking intense mathematical fuckery  
TT: I will take that to mean you aren't then.  
TG: actually we are that doesnt mean i had to be straight up with you  
TT: Oh.  
TT: Well that was actually unexpected. What happened with Terezi?  
TG: she lied to me and then left me  
TT: I'm sorry to hear this.  
TG: dont be you knew i liked karkat even before i knew  
TT: True. So you both are coming to meet us?  
TG: from the sound of it  
TG: dont tell john about me and karkat  
TT: My lips are sealed.  
  
\-- tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

Dave looked over to Karkat after putting down his phone. "Where are we meeting them?"

"The common room. Didn't you read the log from John and I?"

"No. Why the fuck would I do that?"

Karkat slammed his palm to his forehead before moving to take Dave's hand. "This is a human display of affection, right?"

Dave nodded with a laugh as they headed off to meet John and Rose.


	10. Secret's Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Ten: Dave, John, Karkat, and Rose hang out; Terezi trolls Karkat, Sollux trolls Dave.

Karkat looked to the human, his movements stopping.

"What's wrong, Karkles?" Dave asked, having been forced to stop too due to their hands being intertwined.

"I just remembered something... thanks to that talk with Sollux." He looked down.

"Is it a troll thing?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, okay. Go on."

"Well... I really shouldn't, but I keep forgetting that Sollux is my kismesis. I mean, it's not like I want to forget, it's more, since he stayed back with Aradia, I haven't really been able to talk to him so it's kinda, I guess I thought he abandoned it. But the way he spoke to me, it didn't seem like it." Karkat stood there, waiting for the judgement. He was pretty sure it didn't count as lying when he had forgotten.

"Hey, forgetting is one thing, Karkat. Besides, he isn't here, so can you really continue a kismesissitude thing with someone who isn't really there?" Dave was still all sorts of confused by troll romance. But he was trying to understand. At first for Terezi's sake, now for Karkat's.

Karkat looked down a bit. He wanted to say no, but he didn't think he could. Because of various reasons, troll romance was so different from human romance. "Honestly, in some respects, I suppose not. However, in most, we can. We can't reproduce at a distance, but then again, my matesprit being human means I can't exactly reproduce either." He blinked. "Not that I mind! It's just, um, we don't reproduce the same way, so I suppose it wouldn't make sense for us to be able to procreate together." God he wished he had kept his mouth shut. Now he felt like an idiot.

Dave was laughing though, watching Karkat stumble over his words was always a pretty funny experience. He was sure that it didn't really happen much unless with him.

Karkat was confused though. Why was his matesprit laughing? What could possibly be funny in this situation? Wasn't it bad to point out that they couldn't procreate together? They were stopped at the door of the common room, his eyes looking to Dave. "Why are you laughing?"

"You don't have to worry about it Karkat. Whether we can have kids or not, it doesn't matter. I care more about trying to make you smile, you never seem happy and it upsets me. Your smile makes my day that much better." He smiled and moved to press his lips to the troll's forehead before opening the door.

Inside, John and Rose could be seen, and predictably, they are making out. Because they totally weren't expecting to have company, right?

"Get a room you two!" Dave blurted out in a snide tone.

"We are in one." Rose responded, though she was a little flushed.

"A private one." Dave retorted.

"Because it's only okay when you and Terezi make out in public." John pointed out.

Dave flinched, his eyes falling to the floor. "Terezi broke up with me dude, thanks." He voice was flat, almost cold.

"But it's okay! I'm trying to help him get over her." Karkat nodded.

Rose snickered, causing John to look at her questioningly. Trying to compose herself, she merely shook her head and held her hand up to John.

Dave rubbed the back of his head, laughing a bit. "Yeah it was actually kind of unexpected considering everything while I was with Terezi." He looked to Karkat, a sideways glance from under his shades. He wanted to tell John, but he wasn't sure it was a good idea.

"I know! I do have one question though." John and his questions were scary from time to time. Mainly because sometimes they made you question if he was really as dumb as he acted. Fuck, he probably was, he STILL used his stack modus. Though to be fair it was combined with his queue modus and his array modus, which did seem more practical. Hashmap was so much better.

"Yes?" Dave's voice was even but he was trembling inside.

John looked to Karkat, and then Dave before he spoke again. "Are you guys that kismesis thing trolls do, or what is going on?" John was clearly confused about how they could seem to hate each other and still hang out. He knew Dave liked Karkat, and he accepted Dave for who he was. But this still made no sense to him.

"No, you ignoramus!" Karkat growled out, his eyes narrowing. Rose was laughing as he yelled at John. John's head tilted in confusion as his girlfriend laughed and his best bro shook his head. "If we were in a kismesissitude, we would not be able to 'hang out'." Karkat continued before rolling his eyes, ever the frustrating Egbert.

"Actually, bro, Karkat... he's my boyfriend, err... I guess the more proper term is matesprit, since he is a troll." Dave rubbed the back of his head and smiled slightly. Karkat almost instinctively looked to Dave, however, confusion coloured his face. Karkat was pretty sure that Dave wouldn't be the one to state that they were together.

"But wait, you and Terezi just broke up."

"Yeah, and?"

"You're as fickle with your feelings as a troll now?"

Karkat's face turned a bright red, he knew that was meant as an insult. "ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY THAT US TROLLS CAN'T DEVELOP MEANINGFUL BONDS?!" Dave and Rose were both holding the troll back. However, he was growling and feeling maybe just a bit bloodthirsty at the comment.

"John, shut up!" Rose was pleading even though she had a demanding tone with the dorky male.

"The same could be said about you, Egbert. Liking Vriska and then being head over heels for Rose the second that you find out she is dead." Dave retorted.

"Dave, please!"

"No, he wants to be insulting, he can take it or shut up." Dave then turned to John, his eyes narrowed under his glasses. "Besides, I was in love with Karkat and Terezi at the same time. I went for Terezi because I thought Karkat hated me."

John rolled his eyes. Moving to sit down on the couch, he crossed his legs as he watched the trio.

Karkat was calming down, and having heard Dave pretty much stand up for him and his race certainly helped. Though there was a pain in his chest when Dave admitted that the only reason he went for Terezi was pretty much Karkat's wall.

When Dave and Rose let him go, Karkat looked down to his mobile device. He looked up at Dave sorrowfully and Dave just waved him off. It was nice that he didn't have to say it to Dave that someone was trying to reach him. Someone they had just parted with.

Terezi.

\-- gallowsCalibrator [GC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG] --  
  
GC: H3Y...  
CG: TO WHAT DO I OWE THIS PLEASURE?  
CG: KANAYA IS TELLING EVERYONE WE AREN'T TALKING SO I'M A LITTLE CONFUSED.  
GC: SH3 1S TH3 R34SON 1 4M R34CH1NG YOU >:[  
CG: WHY DOES THAT NOT SURPRISE ME?  
GC: B3C4US3 SH3 1S 4 M3DDL3R, DUH!  
CG: AND YOU ARE THE ONE NOT TALKING TO ME FOR A REASON I DON'T EVEN KNOW!  
GC: M4YB3 B3C4US3 1 L3FT D4V3 FOR YOU! 1 W4NT YOU H4PPY, L1K3 YOU US3 TO B3...  
CG: AND I CAN'T BE HAPPY WITH YOU AROUND? TEREZI, YOU ARE MY FRIEND. I WOULD HAVE TO BE A BULGE FONDLING FUCKTARD TO LET A RELATIONSHIP IN ANY QUADRANT RUIN OUR FRIENDSHIP. I FUCKED UP OUR MATESPRITSHIP, I WON'T FUCK UP OUR FRIENDSHIP.  
GC: ...  
GC: TH4NKS K4RK4T... 1M SORRY FOR B31NG TH3 WORST FR13ND 3V3R  
CG: YOU WEREN'T THE WORST FRIEND EVER, TEREZI. NOT BY A LONG SHOT. (:B  
  
\-- carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling gallowsCalibrator [GC] --  
  
GC: <3

Karkat sighed, looking up, his eyes looking for John, who now had Rose and Dave animatedly talk to him. Blinking, Karkat was still confused about how fast humans could get over the kind of insults that John threw around.

Coughing, he tried to gain their attention. Something he had successfully done.

"Sup Karkles?" Dave said, beckoning him over.

"What are you guys talking about?"

"You and I."

"Why?"

"Because we asked, 'Karkles'." Rose sneered before turning back to the two boys.

"Don't call me that, Lalonde." Karkat growled out.

Dave frowned. "That's my nickname for him anyway. Don't steal it."

"Fine. Such a drama queen, Strider." Rose rolled her eyes.

\-- twinArmageddons [TA] began trolling turntechGodhead [TG] --  
  
TA: hey. so y0u and kk, huh?  
TG: woah bro woah what the hell?  
TA: you're why tz isn't talking him.  
TG: i have no idea what youre talking about she just messaged him  
TA: why w0uld ka tell me she isn't talking to kk then?  
TG: because she wasnt? but apparently now she is  
TA: ugh, this is stupid. this isn't even why i messaged you.  
TG: then why did you?  
TA: t0 tell you that kk is an idi0t, but don't let him push y0u away.  
TA: you are the first matesprit he didn't aband0n when things lo0ked bleak.  
TA: you're g0od f0r him, he needs that to be happy like he was back 0n alternia.  
TG: wow i dont know how i feel about someone actually telling me im good for karkat  
TG: thanks i guess but why are you telling me this?  
TA: because kk is important t0 me. and i know he is t0 you and tz t0o. that's why tz left y0u. she knew you b0th would be happier t0gether.  
  
\-- twinArmageddons [TA] ceased trolling turntechGodhead [TG] --

Wow. What the fuck just happened there?

"Dave, you okay?" Karkat looked at him, confused and worried at the same time.

"Sollux just messaged me."

"What about?"

"I'll tell you later, let's just have fun for now." Dave smiled at the trio.


	11. Rap Offs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Eleven: The gang hangs; Raps ensue.

Dave isn't really sure what to do. Karkat wants to have a drawing contest, Rose wants to watch movies, and John wants to pull pranks. He not in the mood for any of those things. It was times like this, he was reminded that hanging out with a group of friends could be tedious. Dave didn't much care for tedious.

"How about we set up a series of challenges. Team based. So it'd be me and Karkles verses you two." This seemed to get their attention.

"What kind of challenges?" Karkat asked.

"We would take turns picking the challenge. No drawing or pranking challenges though. I'll pick first, since this was my rad idea. You three try to guess a number between one and fifty to determine the order. The closer to the number I'm thinking of you are, higher position in the turn order you are. Go!"

"Fifteen!" John yelled, he was so for this, clearly.

"Forty-five." Rose.

"One." Karkles.

Dave burst into laughter. "Wow, of all people to actually get the number I was thinking, Karkat gets the number. Turn order is me, Karkles, John, then Rose." Dave was shaking his head. "I had seriously been expecting Egderp to be the one who would get the number."

Rose rolled her eyes, John shook his head, and Karkat, well he just looked like he had conquered the most difficult boss. It was quite amusing to see the varying differences in the the reactions. Dave scooted over to Rose's side and nudged her slightly.

"Yes Dave?"

"Cheer up. You just have that much more time to come up with an awesome challenge." Dave grinned. He actually liked the challenges that Rose came up with when she had time.

"I do suppose you have a valid point there Mister Strider. I shall do my best to not disappoint in that case." Rose nodded as they all waited anxiously for what would likely be a predictable challenge from Dave.

"First challenge will be a rap-off. We will do it this way. The winner of John and me will face off against the winner of Rose and Karkat. If both winners are of the same team, that team automatically wins. Winners will be determined by the two not rapping and must be unanimous. This also will be based purely on who does better, not on who you are with. For example, if say between me and John, Rose feels I did better she must go with that and the same in my case if I feel Rose did better than Karkat. NO favouritism allowed here." Dave explains.

Rose's brow arched, thought both John and Karkat looked displeased that they were used as the examples. "Why are you not setting it up as you against Rose the first round?" Karkat asked.

"Because he is afraid to lose to me."

"No. Because I want Karkat to have the satisfaction of beating your smug face." Dave said flatly. He knew he would beat Egderp. He was pretty sure Rose would beat Karkat. But he would have loved it if Karkat beat her. If anything he wanted to see if Karkat could prove he was better at raps than he was.

Rose rolled her eyes at Dave. "You know he can't beat me, Strider."

"He can if he puts his mind to it." Dave argued.

Karkat flushed, hearing Dave stick up for him. If one was paying attention enough, which of course no one was because everyone was fighting over the match ups, they would see Karkat thinking. He was determine to prove that that Dave was right.

"I say we go with these pairings... I want to see if I can beat Rose..." Karkat was quieter than normal. he was clearly nervous but also excited. Dave walked over to him and wrapped his arm around Karkles.

"You sure? I could stick you with Egderp. Then we both have better chances of winning." Dave whispered in the troll's ear.

Karkat merely shook his head. He was determined to show that he was just as good as anyone else if he put his mind to it. He was the goddamned knight of blood after all. There had to be some merit to be the knight. He needed to show everyone he wasn't just a one trick pony. Beating John would be too easy, the kid was dumb as a doornail. Rose though, she was skilled. "I want to go against Rose." He whispered back.

Dave nodded. He couldn't say he had been surprised. Karkat was always the first one to try to prove people wrong. Or in this case, to prove that Dave was right.

"Right. Do we want Karkles and Rose to go first, or John and I?" Dave looked around. John looked hesitant. They probably all knew he wanted to go first, it was his forte after all.

"I vote for pepsicola." Rose stated bluntly.

"Pepsicola?" The three boys asked.

She sighed. "John and Dave. John is blue like Pepsi, Dave is red like Coca-Cola. I thought it was pretty obvious. Well to everyone but Karkat. No offense."

"None taken, I'm assuming those are two human things I don't know about." Karkat sighed out. He knew about soda, though he didn't feel like bringing that up, because he really didn't care. Soda was disgusting.

"Soda is gross, apple juice all the way." Dave stated.

John shook his head. He looked to Karkat pleadingly.

"I say John and Dave too." Karkat put out.

"Goddamnit! I hate you all." John pouted out. It was so damn obvious who Dave was going to vote for that it was pathetic.

Dave on the other hand, was grinning. "I'll start us off, Egderp."

John's eyes rolled.

This is it, Egbert. We're now in the shit.  
Can you handle or even manage to get off one little bit?  
If you can't, then you might as well have Lalonde post your bail.  
Because we all know that your sick beats are all stale.  
We will ride this coaster together.  
Or in trying we will break the tether.  
And know that there is just no way,  
You can keep these ill rhymes at bay.  
And now we will know who is the better man.  
Definitely not you because you can't even hack through a ban.

You think your shit is dope.  
But all it really does is make people mope.  
The more we have to endure it,  
is all the more time we could be using to outwit.  
Everything you end up saying sounds homoerotic,  
and really you just seem to be very neurotic.  
All you are ever about is whether you like Pyrope or Vantas.  
Mother fucking time to get the hell off of campus.

Oh now you have gone and done it.  
By the time I'm done with you you'll be leaving in a dress and bonnet.  
You should have given up when you had the chance.  
Now no one will even give you a passing glance.  
At least I don't wear a sock on my head like a tool,  
whoever thought up your god tier sure was cruel.  
We all know that you act like you are all up Lalonde's ass,  
what with all the time you try to match to her amount of sass.  
And hey at least I didn't have to quell a beast for my boyfriend.  
But we already figured out that even you can't comprehend.  
Sometimes it is a wonder you even know how to get out of bed,  
and all of your stupidity only gets me seeing red.

You are only seeing red because you know,  
that your little dream of us being together was never going to blow.

John was about to start another line when both Rose and Karkat jumped up and covered his mouth. He looked painfully annoyed, Dave kept his stoic look but he was cracking up on the inside.

"As much as I love you, John, and you did well. Dave won." Rose admitted before wrapping her arms around John. He was huffing.

"I agree. You did very well Egbert, but Dave won this one." Karkat pulled from the pair before scooting over awkwardly to Dave's side.

Dave smirked ever so slightly, wrapping an arm around Karkat's shoulder. "Was there ever any doubt?"

"He could have won Dave." Rose chimed in.

"I went easy on him at first." Dave rolled his eyes beneath his shades.

"Whatever, coolkid."

"Yo let's start up Rose and Karkat now before we lose the momentum!" Dave suggested.

Karkles froze, Dave starting to rub his shoulder a bit.

"I guess I'll start us off." Rose winked to Karkat. Which shouldn't have bothered Dave, but it did a little.

Do you really think that you can beat me, kid?  
The day that you do is a day that heaven will forbid.  
Sometimes it is a wonder why you feel the need,  
You always want to be the one to plant the seed.  
Overly preoccupied with filling your quadrants.  
When all you really knew was that Dave and Terezi were your constants.  
It's really quite sad, considering what I had heard about Eridan.  
If only you knew you were both as stale as old bran.

AT LEAST I'M NOT THE ONE WHO VACILLATES ALL THE TIME.  
YOU CAN'T DECIDE IF YOU ARE BLACK OR RED, WHICH IS REALLY A CRIME!  
ALL I KNOW IS THAT YOU SEND MIXED SIGNALS TO KANAYA AND JOHN,  
SO REALLY, YOU SHOULDN'T EVEN BE ALLOWED TO SPAWN.  
SNEAKING AROUND, WORRYING THAT ONE WILL FIND OUT,  
MAY I SUGGEST ANOTHER ROUTE?  
JUST STOP IT NOW, CEASE THE ENDLESS STUPIDITY.  
GIVE ONE OF THEM SOME ACTUAL VALIDITY.  
SETTLE DOWN OH SEER OF LIGHT,  
THERE IS NO NEED TO ALWAYS BE SO UPTIGHT.

Says the Knight of Blood,  
An angry little troll whose speech is like a baffling flood.  
You always come off like you have one of your scythes up your ass.  
Never even knowing how to use true brass.  
Sometimes I even wonder how you exist,  
Maybe its the fact that paradox space wanted you to be the biggest twist.  
Who will ever know?  
Never us, which is the end of the show.

VERY FUNNY LALONDE, A REAL CLASSIC.  
DID YOU PULL THAT ONE OUT OF JURASSIC?  
FOOLED ME THAT YOU ARE A SEER.  
SINCE YOUR VISION IS ALWAYS SO UNCLEAR.  
ALWAYS FINDING YOU COMPLETELY INEBRIATED,  
YOU CERTAINLY AREN'T ALL THAT DEDICATED.  
SOMEONE NEEDS TO FINALLY KNOCK YOU FROM THAT HORSE.  
AND IT WILL BE ME, I WILL BE THAT SOURCE.

Before Rose could even attempt to start again, Dave had his hands up. "There's no way your rap is going to have more back and forths than mine and John's. John and I will take a moment to discuss the winner."

Rose was looking completely red in the face. Karkat, moving to her side, frowned and tried to ask what was wrong.

"I can't believe you. As good as that actually was, you had no right to bring both Kanaya and John into it." She whispered. Her eyes quickly looked away from him. He knew she always wasn't too pleased about the drunk comments. But it was slam poetry, right? You were supposed to do that shit.

"Sorry..."

"What?" Rose was in shock. Karkat never apologized for anything.

"I was just trying to prove I could beat you... so I used whatever I could. I wasn't trying to actually upset you. I just wanted you and Dave to know that I really can do shit if I put my mind to it." Karkat looked down at the floor. He hated stooping to this level. But the humans WERE his friends now. So upsetting them and not apologizing, not exactly the right thing to do.

Rose moved to pull Karkat into a hug and patted his back lightly. "You are forgiven, this time."

Just then, Dave and John looked to the both of them. Dave was internally cringing at the sight of his ecto sister hugging his boyfriend. It was still weird for him, okay?

"This was a hard decision. But Dave and I agreed that Karkat won." John announced.

"Congratulations Karkat." Rose smiled.

"I knew you could do it, babe." Dave smirked, walking over and lifting Karkat's hand into the air. "Team Strider, one. Team Egderp, zero."

"When did we decide team names?" Rose and Karkat asked at the same time.

"We didn't. I did, just now." Dave grinned.

"Of course." Rose sighed out.


	12. Fluffy Bunny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Twelve: Karkat shocks the humans; Everything takes an unexpected turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Karkat knows what Fluffy Bunny is... because I had a blank and forgot what my challenge for him was going to be. OuO;;

"Are you really surprised, Rose? I mean seriously?" Dave was shaking his head before he turned to look at Karkat. The troll was still reeling from his victory over Lalonde, it was actually kind of cute. Strider couldn't help the fluttering he felt when he saw how happy his matesprit was. A light, almost inaudible chuckle left the knight, causing Karkat to look at him in confusion, as his ears were the only ones sensitive enough to catch it.

Dave cleared his through before shrugging it off like it was no big deal. He was a Strider, Striders were too cool to be caught laughing in any sense of the word. "If I'm not mistaken, the turn order indicates that the other member of team Strider is in charge of the next challenge." With that, all focus was centred on Karkat immediately.

Karkat choked down the lump that was forming in his throat. He hadn't even given his challenge any thought. What if they thought his was lame, but they did it anyway out of obligation to their friendship with him. Dave could see from the way that Karkles had stiffened that he was starting to shut down. Well... fuck, this wasn't going to work out. He let out a soft sigh before nudging his matesprit, running his hand calmingly along his arm. This seemed to snap the troll out of it. That touch may have been a little too pale, fuck if Dave knew, but he wouldn't want to compromise the troll's other quadrants.

Karkat seemed to be genuinely appreciative of the action though. Trying to get his head back into the game, he racked his think pan for a few moments. Pranking, which was lame anyway, was out, as was any drawing challenges. Dave used slam poetry, predictably. He wanted to try to be unbelievably less predictable. He was also pretty sure that ruined an idea for Rose, so she was probably bummed. Difference? She had a hella lot longer to think than he did.

Everyone was staring at him expectantly. Well, this was beyond suckish! "FLUFFY BUNNY!" The troll yells out without even thinking. Oh fuck. Shit! What was Karkat going to do. The troll looked to Dave, pleading. Dave, though, was staring at him in what looked like shock. Oh no! Karkat broke his matesprit! Panic was running through his entire body until he heard something that sounded like a little 'wow'.

"Karkat, I didn't know you knew the fluffy bunny challenge."

"Yes, it seems quite odd actually hearing you say it like it was no big deal. Did they have something similar on Alternia?" Rose inquired.

"No..." He conceded.

"Color me impressed then, Karks." Dave stated after his recovery from complete and utter shock. "Guess my boyfriend wants to know who can fit more in their mouth, Rose. You or me." He grinned and let out an actual laugh this time.

Rose rolled her eyes at Dave before brushing him off. "I'm sure that's not it, Mister Strider. I would much rather not talk about such lewd things." She was trying her damnedest to not let it show, having gone as far as to adjust her scarf, but she was blushing profusely. Karkat was still stunned by the words that came from Dave, that he had barely registered the fact that Rose responded.

"Dave! No. Just no." It was easy to tell that John had no idea what to really say. He was flabbergasted beyond belief.

Karkat, however, was shaking his head. What the actual fuck had he gotten himself into with this choice. He had quite honestly said the first thing that had come to mind. Now he was regretting it. He looked over to John apologetically.

Sighing out, John managed to speak up once more, his eyes looking to each individual. "So what's the turn order?" He asked, though he was really regretting that almost instantly. He knew that Dave would make it so ridiculous, that John would forfeit.

"Well, it is my boyfriend's challenge, so ask him." Dave stated matter of factly.

The three remaining members of the group all stared at Dave in complete shock. "What? You didn't really think I would steal Karkles' thunder, did you? I thought it was common knowledge that turn order would be picked by who set up the challenge." Dave shrugged and leaned back against a nearby table.

Still blinking, John looked to Karkat, his eyes expectant. Surely Karkat wasn't so caught up in his shock that he would make John repeat his question. That would just be ridiculous.

Karkat tilted his head when he noticed Rose and John both staring at him. Oh for fuck's sake, why couldn't his matesprit be the insufferable prick he normally is. This was bullshit. Now you had to actually pick an order too? Fuck you, Dave Strider. Fuck you. Karkat noticed the smirk from Dave as he waited. That little shit! He did it on purpose, he would have gladly made the order. God damn it!

"We're waiting, babe."

"Do not rush him, Dave."

None of them could see it, but Karkat was pretty sure that Dave had rolled his eyes at her. Looking off for a moment, Karkat was trying to think of some strategic way to base the turn order. Maybe Rose first? Was that a bad idea. This was hard.

"I think... John first... then Rose, Dave, and myself." Karkat finally said, though he got the dirtiest of looks from John.

"Why am I first?!"

"I don't know? I didn't exactly have the easiest time thinking with you all staring so expectantly! Asshole." He retorted as he crossed his arms, looking away from the group.

Dave on the other hand, was laughing at the reaction from John, while trying to subtly snake his arms around his boyfriend. He could feel the heat from Karkat growing that much warmer. He was beginning to wonder why, until he came to the realization that Karkat was blushing. He allowed himself a little smile, ignoring every part of him that said he was too fucking cool to smile in front of anyone. He was quite pleased to be able to get his troll to blush so easily.

Karkat began swatting at Dave though. He didn't want anyone else to know about his blood colour. Sure, it wasn't like they couldn't figure it out, especially Rose. She had seen Kanaya blush jade, so she knew that the colour of a troll's blood was what their blush looked like. For him, it was candy fucking red. Okay, the only human that knew that to be a mutation was Dave, but he still didn't want to have to deal with other people knowing his blood colour. It was bad enough that Dave and Terezi knew.

Dave managed to plant a kiss on Karkat's neck before finally letting himself be pushed away. Rose cleared her throat, turning her head from the new couple. John was the first to speak, surprisingly since he had been fuming over the turn order for the challenge.

"So... are we starting up this challenge?"

"Yeah. Let me go alchemize some marshmallows real quick." Dave said, quickly leaving the room without another word.

When Dave was gone, John was all over Karkat, because really, he was going to grill the guy who's with his best friend. That's what best friends do, right? Right. There was a big ol' grin on John's face, which was the first thing to alert Karkat to the fact that he should have been worried. Sighing, Karkat tried his best to keep his sights from landing on either of the two humans.

"So Karkat. How did you manage to trick poor ol' Dave to take you as your red partner? I mean, you hate him, wouldn't black have been better?" John inquired, with as little shame as was to be expected of the idiot by now.

Karkat froze, his eyes widening in complete shock. Had he really seemed to be _that_ bad in how he acted with Dave? Well shit fuck tits.  "I never... well. Okay, I did hate him for a while, but I hated all of you. So does that question of hating him have a valid point? And HEY! I didn't trick him. I told him how I felt, which to put it plainly is that I _human_ love him. I can't put him in a quadrant because I do not _pity_ or even _hate_ him. It's complicated to explain." He growled out the last sentence.

"So there is an actual difference between our human love and your troll love other than you have four different types. Hm. I still don't think I believe the red quadrants comprise of pity like you claim they do." Rose added in. She was barely paying attention, too busy with her... hey where did that book come from?

"I thought you couldn't go outside your quadrants, Karkat. What happened to that?" John asked, sounding absolutely confused but still trying to press the issue.

"John, I would like to advise you to stop being a total and moronic tool. Leave me be. I don't even know if this will stick and I'd rather not get the third degree. I do seem to remember that Dave never gave you nor Rose the third degree about your relationship."

"He's my best bro, I don't want him to make a mistake, okay?"

That did it. Karkat was pushing himself free from where he was leaning, his eyes full of fury as he was in Egbert's face in an instant. He hadn't even noticed Dave walking back into the room before he started screaming at John. "Are you trying to say that I'm a mistake? That Dave shouldn't give me a chance just because I came off like I hated him? Or are you like this because I'm a goddamn troll, a troll who by the way warned you against fucking Vriska and you tried anyway. Where did that get you, asshole? YOU WERE HEART BROKEN FOR MONTHS BEFORE YOU FINALLY GAVE LALONDE A CHANCE! SHE HAD BEEN THERE THE WHOLE TIME BUT YOU WERE TOO WORRIED ABOUT A GIRL WHO WOULD HAVE RATHER KILLED YOU! You are a poor ass fucking excuse of a moirail if you think that giving me the third degree or telling me I'm a mistake for Dave is going to be good for him in any fucking way!" Karkat was huffing, and he was red in the face as he watched the shocked expression on John's face.

Dave was standing there, horrified at what he had just heard. What the hell happened while he was gone. He was so lost for a moment, he hadn't noticed when the bags of marshmallows slipped from his hands. "Dave?" He tried to recompose himself, because of course, Rose could be completely unphased by what had just happened. Weirdo.

Hearing Rose, both Karkat and John look up into the direction of Dave. Karkat started to slink back from John, his eyes falling to the ground.

"H... how long have you been there?" John managed to choke out.

"Long enough to hear my boyfriend's explosion on my best friend."

"In otherwords, right after you made Karkat snap with your word choice, John." Rose stated, putting her book down before walking over to Dave. Crouching down, she started picking up the bags as if nothing had happened.

"Dave... I'm so so---" Karkat started, but stopped when Dave held his hand up. He could see the hurt on Dave's face through his stoic façade. He was looking at Dave, though Dave was staring at John.

When he put his hand down, satisfied that Karkles wouldn't start again, Dave took a step around Rose, trying to get closer to John. "Man, do you think I made a mistake in Karkat?" His voice was even, but even John could hear the pain behind the question.

"I just think... if you just broke up with Terezi, isn't it a bad idea to be getting with Karkat? Shouldn't you take the time to get over her?"

"John! She lied to me. She used me to hurt Karkat! And I have loved Karkat for a long ass fucking time. This wasn't a decision I took lightly anyway. I'm not stupid. It was something I had been thinking of for a long time, but had no reason to chase. Or so I thought. I didn't want to have a repeat of you, pining forever instead of moving on with my life. Look, we didn't work, Terezi and I didn't work. I am not the fucking best with relationships, but dude. Karkat isn't a mistake. If anyone made a mistake, it was him because I'm not worth the fucking effort." Dave was clutching his shirt as he spoke, there were tears under his shades.

Rose finally tuned completely into the conversation with Dave's rant. Placing the marshmallows on the table, she walked over to Dave and wrapped her arms around him. She was quietly shushing him as she held him tightly. All John could do was stare in amazement. That was the first time in years that Dave brought up their relationship. The first time he had openly admitted that John was the reason he wouldn't date anyone for a year and a half.

"Guys, I think it's time we part ways. This seems to have gone down a path none of us want to revisit." She looked over to Karkat for a moment, a gentle smile on her face. "You should take Dave back to his room."

Karkat merely nodded before moving to Dave's side, trying to get the time knight to move. When he finally did, they were gone quickly. Rose turned to John, her expression flat. "We need to have a chat later."

John gulped and nodded. "O... okay." Shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't feel like writing four different chapters of challenges, so I decided either combine the last three into this chapter or just Karkat and John's challenges.
> 
> It ended up this monster of a chapter. I really don't know how it went in this direction. I was going to do the Karkat, John, and Rose challenges here. Somehow the story went in a direction even I wasn't expecting.
> 
> If you want to see where I post my work on tumblr, check out [dstridesandkarkles-ao3](http://dstridesandkarkles-ao3.tumblr.com) and to just check out my randomness, feel free to check out my main blog, [dstridesandkarkles](http://dstridesandkarkles.tumblr.com).


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